WHO SAYS YOU can't wear a suit on a bike? Especially a suit made from wind- and water-resistant fabric with reflective pant cuffs.

As the weather gets cooler, riding a bike to the office in work clothing is more feasible than it was in the sweltering summer heat. Velocipedists who'd rather not shower or change after hopping off their bikes have a closetful of "cycling formal wear" options—clothing that looks office-friendly, yet is comfortable to ride in: not too tight, vented to minimize sweating, and rain- and wind-resistant. Most important, the fabrics are stretchy enough to allow a full-range of movement, but aren't so shiny that they look cheesy.

Creating a textile with all of these properties often requires working with mills to modify wind-resistant and moisture-wicking materials traditionally used for outdoor clothing. The trick is giving these textiles a weave that's thick enough to make them look like "normal" clothes and to mask the fact that they're essentially polyester. According to Jason Van Horn, who designed Betabrand's "Bike To Work" collection, developing the fabric for that line took about a year. The brand recently introduced button-down shirts made from a polyester-blend fabric that it hopes won't look like "those shirts people wore in the 1970s," said Mr. Van Horn.

Unlike a lot of bike garb, Giro's Wind Shirt ($190, giro.com), isn't made from polyester coated with water-resistant sprays. Instead, Giro uses a waxed cotton with a water-repellent coating embedded in its fibers—a process intended to prevent the repellency from getting washed out in the laundry. The shirt also has hidden zippered vents to make for cooler rides.

Bike clothing is often cut to minimize pinching and binding and ensure ample coverage when the wearer crouches over. Swrve's Lightweight WWR trousers ($125, swrve.us), for example, have a diamond-shaped piece of fabric in the crotch area to allow legs to move more freely; the knees are slightly pre-bent into shape, like ski boots, so fabric doesn't bunch up there when the wearer pedals, according to Matt Rolletta, the designer and co-founder of the company.

Reflective materials are being adhered to belt loops, buttons and cuffs, among other places. An extreme manifestation of this trend: clothing woven with reflective threads. Vespertine, whose tagline is "Haute Réflecture," sells bow ties subtly woven with threads that shine under the beam of a headlight but not under standard indoor lights. Dashing Tweeds, in London, makes jackets using a fabric called Lumatwill, created at the University of Brighton, that weaves reflective filament into tweed wool yarn.

For cyclists who want to dress to the nines, the OG Blazer and New OGs Pant ($550 and $240, outlier.cc) from Outlier can be paired to make a suit. Both are made from Schoeller Dryskin, a stretchy, water-resistant textile that dries quickly when wet. London tailor Timothy Everest and the cycling-apparel-maker Rapha once collaborated on a made-to-order, three-piece, bike-friendly suit; Rapha's off-the-rack Lapelled Jacket ($450, rapha.cc) offers many of the same technical features. This sport coat has pleats in the back of the shoulder so the jacket doesn't constrain the wearer when he reaches forward, and its collar flips up to reveal a bright pink band around the neckline for improved visibility.

As with all things cycling, there's a dearth of stylish options for women (a representative from one bike-clothing manufacturer said women don't need special clothes; they already have skinny, stretchy jeans). But a few companies are focusing on female riders. Iva Jean's Reveal Skirt ($160, ivajean.com) has a high waist so it doesn't expose the lower back, and it has a zipper that expands the hem by 12 inches for a less constrained fit. Along with an array of reflective vests, Vespertine makes a Red Hook Riding Dress ($150, vespertinenyc.com) that's just short enough to facilitate pedaling and has sleeves on the longer side to cover outstretched arms. Levi's doesn't offer women's products in its 511 Commuter Series yet—but Jonathan Kirby, the company's vice president of men's design, said it will soon.

Fall Basics: This Season's Essential Outfit and Ride

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Betabrand Bike to Work Shirt
Dorothy Hong for The Wall Street Journal, Styling by Renata Mosci

The Button-Down

Betabrand Bike to Work Shirt

This shirt looks like every other white button-down, but it's made from the same quick-dry polyester as a cycling jersey—sans the sheen. Reflective 3M Scotchlite trims the cuff (visible when you roll up the sleeves) as well as the neck line (just flip up the collar). To improve airflow, the shoulder area and chest pocket are lined with a discreet mesh material. $108, betabrand.com

To create its 511 Commuter pants, Levi's tweaked the classic 511 jean with the biker in mind. This pair has a higher back for full coverage, even when a U-lock is strapped to the waistband, and the material is a mostly-cotton fabric that's blended with a stretch material and finished with a water-resistant treatment. The inside of the cuffs are lined with reflective stripes. $88, levi.com

Head protection intended for racers can be a bit too flashy for the corporate parking lot, but this new model from Bern—the company's first designed specifically for bikers—has a more subtle look. The Allston has 16 vents on the sides, top and back that allow for more airflow than Bern's other models, it's lighter, too: an easy-to-carry 13 ounces. $90, bernunlimited.com

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Shinola Runwell

The Bike

Shinola Runwell

In early 20th-century France, the public enthusiastically followed the Critérium des Porteurs de Journau, or "newspaper-carrier races," in which the steadfast couriers of daily papers sped through the streets of Paris on the same utilitarian bikes they used for work—simple, sturdy and fast, with a large, rectangular front rack to which stacks of papers were affixed. Riding the Runwell, a "porteur"-style (the name has endured as a typology) city bike from the made-in-Detroit brand Shinola, offers that same heady mix of style and swiftness.

Designed by Sky Yaeger, an industry veteran responsible for Bianchi's seminal city bikes (among many others), the Runwell features double-butted True Temper CroMo tubing—the lightest, strongest steel tubes going. With its low-maintenance, internal rear hub and disc brakes and Shimano Alfine RapidFire Plus 11-speed shifters, the Runwell is a zippy, dependable ride. Other components, from DT Swiss spokes to Continental tires, are first rate, too. At nearly three grand, the Runwell is no garage-sale cruiser, but the price is fair for a handmade bike that puts such a modern twist on the fleet, pre-war Parisians models. $2,950, shinola.com

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